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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

WIP Wednesday : WIP's on Parade

Alternate post titles: "Quilts with Feet", or "Sexy Man-ankles". Any would be appropriate!

So the kids were at Camp Grandma up in NYC last week and, per usual, I took the week off of work. Early in the week, Mrs. QD and I enjoyed an overnight trip to Blowing Rock, up in the North Carolina mountains. But for the latter part of the week, she began her PhD program and I was left to my lonesome.

What's a quilting dad to do?

It is so rare that I enjoy several consecutive uninterrupted hours of sewing that I decided I needed to tackle some of my bigger projects. Namely, the (embarrassingly high) stack of blocks that all need to be assembled into quilt tops. You know all of the quilting bees that I participate in? Well, I'm ashamed to admit that I had yet to sew together a single quilt top from the bee blocks I'd received.

I was a man on a mission. And between Wednesday and Sunday I sewed together 5 -- count 'em, 5 -- quilt tops. I have no idea when I'll be able to get them quilted, but no matter for now. I am just so glad to have made a dent in the WIP pile.

Wanna see 'em? I thought so! And heeeeeeeere we go ...

First up were these blocks, originally sewn up for a friend's wedding gift 2 years ago, made from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern line.

Next up were another set of blocks that I sewed together a LONG time ago ... as in, this was one of the first set of quilt blocks that I ever made. They're made from some of my favorite Fresh Cut prints by Heather Bailey, and the pattern is the popular Turning Twenty. This one actually still needs its final border.

Then I moved on to my growing pile of quilting bee blocks made for me by my many talented Flickr friends. I started with my original virtual quilting bee, the SewConnected group that I started back in September 2008.

I absolutely LOVE this quilt. It's just so ... happy. It features so many of my favorite fabrics, including Flea Market Fancy and Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt, Farmer's Market by Sandi Henderson, and Flutterby ladybugs by Tula Pink. They all go so well together.

Why did I wait so long to put this together??

By this point I was on a roll, and I was so excited to move on to my SewConnected 2 quilt. I had my SC2 friends make me mini improv houses, and boy did they deliver. I opted to use a light grey (Kona Ash) instead of white as my neutral, and I'm so glad that I did. I know I am going to LOVE this quilt for years to come.

I rounded out the weekend with my SewConnected 3 quilt, made from Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks line. I asked for quarter log cabin blocks and love the way all of the prints are mixed up together. I think this line has cemented its place as one of my all-time favorites.

And yes, those are my sexy mankles (man-ankles) in the photo above! : )

So there they are -- 5 quilt tops in 5 days. I can add them to my stack of tops ready to be quilted, which was already stacked 4 high. Oh, what's that? You want to see them, too? OK, your wish is my command!

Here's a colorful quilt top made from a line of fabric called "Mendhi" by Bill Kerr & Weeks Ringle of FunQuilts from a few years back. The pattern is the free Brick Path quilt by Amy Butler.

This is another top made from some Amy Butler prints -- this time, her Lotus line. The pattern is called "Flip a Coin" and was featured in one of the (or even the?) very first issues of Fons & Porter's Easy Quilts magazine.

Here's a pretty basic (i.e. no pattern) HST / pinwheel quilt made from a charm pack of Look & Learn by American Jane and bordered with some of my favorite ruler fabric:

I got a lot of great feedback on this next quilt when I first started blogging. And here it sits, still unfinished. It's another Turning Twenty quilt, this time using some wonderful Prints Charming fabrics.

So some of my unifinished stacks of blocks have turned into unfinished quilt tops. But that's OK, right? One step at a time ...

I still have a bunch more to work on, including my Cottage Quilting Bee, Bee Inspired, Buzz Cuts, and {Bee} Imaginative blocks.

Any thoughts or suggestions on backing, binding, or quilting designs for any of these? I'd love to hear them!

What a neat set of projects. And a great use of time while the kids are away.

My son and I were wandering through Bingham Hall yesterday after visiting my husband, and poked our heads in to say hi to a friend - who introduced me to your wife. A brief serendipitous quilting discussion.

Great job QuiltDad. You asked for advice, so here's mine. Figure out how much yardage you need for each one (for the backing & binding), and then walk around with the information in your wallet. Scour the clearance fabric in the hopes that you'll find something. You probably won't. If that happens, then go to fabric.com & shop with a coupon. After you collect your backings, send those babies off to be quilted. Of course, you've been so productive that you might have to sell a kid to fund that kind of work. I can't wait to see them finished. I'm hoping that I have a productive Labor Day weekend. I'm totally looking forward to 3 days of sewing (since I convinced my husband that camping in 100 degree weather was the world's worst idea).

Great quilt tops! I have to agree with you on the AMH Good Folks...it'll always be a favorite for me.I'm not sure if you answer questions in your comments, but I have a quilt out of that line and I've made lots of 9 patch blocks w/5" squares. I'm wondering if doing your Off the Grid pattern would make such small pieces that it would be too hard to appreciate the fabrics. What do you think?

WOW!! You have been busy. It is amazing what one can get done without children under foot. I was in Blowing Rock last week too on vacation. Seeing your Turning Twenty quilt makes me want to get out my pattern and make one too. I have the pattern, but have never made it. Oh, by the way, there are 2 quilt shops in Boone. I went to both of them to look at fabric. Hope you got to go too. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous quilt tops. They are so beautiful and I know you are proud of all of them. Best of luck to your wife as she starts her PhD. Love & blessings from NC!

...HOLY SMOKES. Look at you go!!! I feel like the alternate title for this post could be "If you give a quiltdad some free time..." kinda like "if you give a mouse a cookie"...These look seriously great!!!!

I think the third one is my favorite, but WOW how do you do all this---NO SLEEP?? J.K.

Since I like the third one the best I think I would do a solid red binding and then mimic one of those gorgeous blocks onto the back and maybe (since there isn't much grey) do the backing around that in grey.

WOW you were a busy little bee! Is Camp Grandma taking any new recruits next year??? I've got a couple that would love to go so I could get some sewing done myself! Beautiful tops!! Can't wait to see them all quilted. Jenn

Unbelievable. The fresh cut is perfect for fall. The good folks looks 3 dimensional. I love it. I love them all. The flip a coin quilt would look great with a buttery yellow back. I'll give you my shipping address when you get it finished. HeHe.

What a machine! Wow, that is some serious top production. If I had to pick a fav, it would be the little houses - I think it's the best bee quilt I've seen. Congrats on your amazing productivity. You could employ a longarmer for a few weeks!

Amazing! At first I thought my favorite was SewConnected1, then I saw the houses...so cute, then I moved on to the quarter log cabins and was blown away by all the angles. Your sewing machine must have really been heating up to accomplish so much in such a short time. Congrats.

Yowza! Those are awesome (the quilt tops AND the mankles)! I have made two quilts and I keep thinking about starting another one this fall (which I will probably actually finish in the fall of 2021). Thanks for the inspiration!

I love the house quilt! In fact, I used it as inspiration for my bee for the wonky houses/trees I'd requested. Can't wait to finish my own. I pinned yours to my "Quilty Goodness" board on Pinterest (with proper credit, of course!). Feel free to follow me if you'd like: http://pinterest.com/lipglass/quilty-goodness/